Sir William Essington KCB (c. 1753 – 12 July 1816) was an officer in the Royal Navy during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. On 15 June 1795, he was in command of Sceptre at Saint Helena. There, with the assistance of several East Indiamen, primarily the General Goddard, he captured eight Dutch East Indiamen on their way back to Europe.